Participants at the event. (Photo: baocongthuong.com.vn)
The seminar aims to assist Vietnamese enterprises by updating market information and mechanisms and policies related to business development concerning some countries in South America.
At the event, Mr. Ta Hoang Linh, Deputy Head of Department of Trade Promotion, said Vietnam now has trade relations with 33 countries and territories in Latin America. From some tens of millions of US dollars in 1990, the two-way trade turnover reached USD245 million in 2000.
In 2016, Vietnam’s exports to the market were valued at USD6.27 billion, a year-on-year rise of 10.98%, while imports from the region hit USD5.37 billion, a 4.5% decrease from a year earlier.
In recent years, Vietnam’s export turnover to the region has been a highlight, with an average growth rate of 30-40% with highly-competitive products which is suitable with the payment capacity of the market.
With a population of more than 600 million people and total GDP of over USD6 trillion, South America has much potential for Vietnamese enterprises to expand business. However, together with advantages, they still face difficulties and challenges with market penetration, like geological distance, transport fees, cultural difference and legal institutions.
Vietnamese export commodities to the region include footwear, seafood, rice, garment and textile products, coffee, plastic products, and electronic components. Meanwhile, the country mainly imports garment and textile materials, footwear, paper, feed and raw materials, soybeans and cotton of all kinds from Latin America.
According to Mr. Tran Dinh Van, former commercial counsellor of Vietnam in Chile, Vietnamese enterprises should care about the quality of products because low-cost goods cannot compete with those of China, India, Bangladesh and Peru.
He stressed that Vietnam Trade Offices in the region are ready to provide information about market, give advice and book air tickets to help businesspersons survey the potential market./.